Flexi Fare System
Indian Railway introduced Flexi fare for some trains especially most Rajdhani, Shatabdi and Duronto trains, following are the details.
- Railway Introduced Flexi Fare Scheme in Trains
- Rationalisation of Flexi fare scheme in Rajdhani, Shatabdi and Duronto trains extended for one more year ~ 07.11.2020
Rationalisation of Flexi fare scheme in Rajdhani, Shatabdi and Duronto trains extended for one more year ~ 07.11.2020
Ministry of Railways have decide that rationalisation of Flexi fare scheme shall be extended for another period of one year i.e from 15.03.2021 to 14.03.2022.
Earlier News: Rationalisation of Flexi fare scheme in Rajdhani, Shatabdi and Duronto trains extended for one more year
Central Railway announced (26.11.2019) that Rationalisation of Flexi fare scheme in Rajdhani, Shatabdi and Duronto Express trains extended for one more year. Railways have decided that the currency of rationalisation of Flexi fare scheme shall be extended further for another period of one year i.e. from 15.03.2020 to 14.03.2021.
Railway Introduced Flexi Fare Scheme in Trains
From 09.09.2016 onwards, most Rajdhani, Shatabdi and Duronto train tickets will cost 30-40% more. This dramatic rise is because railways have introduced surge pricing on these trains for all classes except first class AC and executive chair car. Following are the details of Flexi Fare System for Trains.
Under the scheme, dubbed “Flexi fares” by railways, base fares will increase 10% with every 10% of berth sold, subject to a ceiling for 1.5 times the base fare, for most classes except third AC for which the ceiling will be 1.4. This means a half-empty train will still see fares at one and a half times current levels. Back of the envelope calculations shows that at the 1.5X level, Rajdhani and Duronto tickets would cost about 42-43% more, while Shatabdi fare will rise 32-33%. Only the base fare will be subject to surge pricing, Other supplementary charges will continue to be levied separately, as they are now, and there is no change in them.
In Short : Surge Pricing Explained
- Delhi – Mumbai Rajadhani 2nd AC : 42%
- Delhi – Bangalore Rajadhani 2nd AC : 40%
- Delhi – Howrah Duranto 2nd AC : 43%
- Delhi – Chandigarh Shatabdi : 32%
According to the Press release of Railway, Railway decided to introduce the flexi fare system for Rajdhani/Duronto and Shatabdi trains as per details given below:-
The Base Fare for Rajdhani, Duronto and Shatabdi class of trains will be on flexi fare system. Base Fare to rise 50% on Even Half-Empty Trains
- The base fares will increase by 10% with every 10% of berths sold subject to a prescribed ceiling limit as indicated in the table below. There will be no change in the existing fare for 1 AC and EC class of travel. In the tables given below ‘X’ stands for the present base fares.
Fare Structure for Rajdhani and Duronto category of Trains
| Charges % of berths | 10% | 10% | 10% | 10% | 10% | 10% | 10% | 10% | 10% | 10% |
| 2S | 1X | 1.1X | 1.2X | 1.3X | 1.4X | 1.5X | 1.5X | 1.5X | 1.5X | 1.5X |
| SL | 1X | 1.1X | 1.2X | 1.3X | 1.4X | 1.5X | 1.5X | 1.5X | 1.5X | 1.5X |
| 3A | 1X | 1.1X | 1.2X | 1.3X | 1.4X | 1.4X | 1.4X | 1.4X | 1.4X | 1.4X |
| 2A | 1X | 1.1X | 1.2X | 1.3X | 1.4X | 1.5X | 1.5X | 1.5X | 1.5X | 1.5X |
| 1A | 1X | 1X | 1X | 1X | 1X | 1X | 1X | 1X | 1X | 1X |
X= Base Fare
Fare Structure for Shatabdi category of Trains
| Charges % of berths | 10% | 10% | 10% | 10% | 10% | 10% | 10% | 10% | 10% | 10% |
| CC | 1X | 1.1X | 1.2X | 1.3X | 1.4X | 1.5X | 1.5X | 1.5X | 1.5X | 1.5X |
| EC | 1X | 1X | 1X | 1X | 1X | 1X | 1X | 1X | 1X | 1X |
X= Base Fare
- Other supplementary charges like reservation charges, Superfast charge, Catering charges, Service tax etc., as applicable shall be levied separately.
- Vacant berths left at the time of charting would be offered for current booking. Tickets under current booking shall be sold at the last price sold for that class and other supplementary charges like reservation fee, super fast charges, catering charges, service tax etc., as applicable shall be levied in full.
- The information should also be displayed to the passenger during the booking in case the fare of lower class becomes higher than the higher class to exercise option to travel by the higher class.
- The last price for every class of tickets for the particular train should be printed in the reservation chart for the purpose of charging of difference of fare in the train or charging the passengers of the train without ticket etc.,
The operation of various quotas available in these category of Trains shall be as under:
- Tatkal Quota: The present limit of berths set aside for Tatkal quota in these trains shall be operated as per the existing guidelines. However, no additional charges as “Tatkal charges” will be levied. The berths assigned under the Tatkal quota shall be booked at the rate of 1.5 times of the base fare for all classes (2S, SL, 2A, 3A and CC) except 1AC and EC. Other supplementary charges like reservation fee, super fast charges, catering charges, service tax etc., as applicable shall be levied in full.
- There shall be no Premium Tatkal Quota in these train services.
Concession:
- Normal concession as applicable for respective concessional ticket will be admissible on the base fare of the ticket at each stage as per the table above.
Refund Rules:
- There will be no change in the existing refund rules.
Other Charges
- There shall be no change in charges for reservation fee, superfast surcharge etc. Such charges, wherever applicable, shall continue to be levied additionally as per existing instructions.
Service tax will continue to be levied as applicable as per instructions issued in this regard. All other rules and conditions pertaining to the above category of trains shall be continued without any change. The changes in fares as above shall come into force w.e.f 09.09.2016.
The revised fares will not apply to tickets already issued in advance for journeys to commence on or after 09.09.2016. In the case of tickets already issued at pre-revised rates, the difference of fare shall not be collected from the passengers. These changes should be carried out in manual ticketing system and in PRS, UTS etc.,
Salient features of the revised Flexi-Fare scheme by Indian Railways
In fact, the flexi fare scheme has been completely scrapped from 15 trains. Indian Railways has also removed the much criticised flexi-fare from 32 trains during the lean period of February, March and August.
- Flexi-fare scheme has been removed from the following 15 trains where the average monthly occupancy was less than 50% throughout last year. The list is given below:
- Train number 12006 Kalka-New Delhi Shatabdi
- Train number 12012 Kalka-New Delhi Shatabdi
- Train number 12037 New Delhi-Ludhiana Shatabdi
- Train number 12038 Ludhiana-New Delhi Shatabdi
- Train number 12043 Moga(Ludhiana)-New Delhi Shatabdi
- Train number 12044 New Delhi-Moga(Ludhiana) Shatabdi
- Train number 12047 New Delhi-Bhatinda Shatabdi
- Train number 12048 Bhatinda-New Delhi Shatabdi
- Train number 12085 Guwahati-Dibrugarh Shatabdi
- Train number 12086 Dibrugarh-Guwahati Shatabdi
- Train number 12087 Naharlagun-Guwahati Shatabdi
- Train number 12088 Guwahati-Naharlagun Shatabdi
- Train number 12277 Howrah-Puri Shatabdi
- Train number 22205 Chennai-Madurai Duronto
- Train number 22206 Madurai-Chennai Duronto
- The flexi-fare has been discontinued in 32 trains for lean months of February, March and August for trains in which the average monthly occupancy was between 50-75% throughout the last year. The list of these 32 trains is given below:
- Train number 12005 KALKA SHATABDI
- Train number 12014 AMRITSAR SHATABDI
- Train number 12016 AJMER SHATABDI
- Train number 12018 DEHRADUN SHATABDI
- Train number 12020 SHATABDI EXPRESS
- Train number 12025 SHATABDI EXP
- Train number 12026 PUNE SHATABDI
- Train number 12030 SWARNA SHATABDI
- Train number 12031 AMRITSAR SHATABDI
- Train number 12032 AMRITSAR SHATABDI
- Train number 12039 KGM NDLS SHT
- Train number 12041 SHATABDI EXPRESS
- Train number 12042 NJP HWH SHATABDI
- Train number 12045 NDLS CDG SHATABDI
- Train number 12046 CDG NDLS SHATABDI
- Train number 12213 DURONTO EXPRESS
- Train number 12214 YPR DURONTO EXP
- Train number 12219 SC DURONTO EXP
- Train number 12223 LTT ERS DURONTO
- Train number 12224 ERS LTT DURONTO
- Train number 12227 INDORE DURONTO
- Train number 12228 MUMBAI DURONTO
- Train number 12239 JAIPUR DURONTO
- Train number 12240 JP MMCT DURONTO
- Train number 12243 SHATABDI EXP
- Train number 12244 SHATABDI EXP
- Train number 12278 SHATABDI EXPRESS
- Train number 12437 RAJDHANI EXP
- Train number 12441 BSP NDLS RAJ EX
- Train number 12442 BILASPUR RJDHNI
- Train number 12453 RNC NDLS RAJ EXP
- Train number 22414 NZM MAO RAJ
- The maximum cap of flexi-fares has been reduced from 1.5 times to 1.4 times of the ticket fares. This means that the maximum ticket price that Indian Railways was earlier charging for premium train such as Rajdhani, Shatabdi and Duronto Express has come down.
- A graded discount will be offered upto 20% on last fare to be given (class wise) in case of class occupancy being less than 60%. To increase the occupancy of less patronised classes such as 2A, 3A and Chair Car a graded discount of 20% on last fare on all trains with flexi-fare and Humsafar Trains where occupancy of a particular class is less than 60% will be given. This will be for 4 days prior to the scheduled departure of the train. Also, a 10% discount will be offered as per the following criteria:
For up to 70% occupancy: 20% discount on last fare
70-80% occupancy: 10% discount on the last fare
Above 80% occupancy: Nil
- These changes will be implemented from the Advance Reservation Period that is 4 months after making necessary changes in Passenger Reservation System. This will be done on an experimental basis for 6 months and will be further extended after assessing its outcome. The flexi-fare scheme is applicable on 142 premium trains – 46 Shatabdi Express, 52 Duronto Express and 44 Rajdhani Express trains. Under the scheme for every 10% increase in occupancy of berths, there is a 10% increase in fare with a cap of 150%.
Revision of Flexi Fare Scheme of Indian Railways
Flexi fare scheme has been introduced in Rajdhani, Shatabdi and Duronto trains from 09.09.2016. Under this scheme, the fare increases by 10% with every 10% of berths sold subject to maximum limit of 1.5 times in classes Second AC, Sleeper, Second Sitting (reserved), AC Chair Car and 1.4 times in 3rd AC class. No change has been made in the fare of First AC and Executive class.
Based on the feedback from different quarters, a committee was constituted to review the flexi fare scheme and based on certain recommendations of the committee, Flexi fare scheme in Rajdhani, Shatabdi and Duronto Trains has been rationalized as under:
- Flexi fare scheme has been discontinued from 15 trains, with average monthly occupancy less than 50%, for full year and from 32 trains, with average monthly occupancy between 50 to 75%, during pre-defined lean period of 3 months (February, March and August).
- Maximum cap of flexi fare scheme has been reduced to 1.4 times in all flexi fare applicable classes.
- Graded discount has been introduced in flexi fare trains and Humsafar trains, where class-wise occupancy is less than 60%, 4 days prior to scheduled departure of the train as under:-
| Occupancy | Discount |
|---|---|
| Up to 70% | 20% on last fare |
| 70 to 80% | 10% on last fare |
| Above 80% | Nil |
The above changes have been implemented for the journey commencing on 15.03.2019 and onwards, railway announced through a press release on 04.01.2019.
Details ~ Download
I want to cancel my duranto ticket. Will I be refunded increased fare.